1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to spinal surgery, and more particularly to methods, systems, and devices for persuading a spinal rod to a pedicle screw.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spinal surgery may be used to alleviate back pain and correct spinal disorders due to various causes including spinal disease, abnormalities, or trauma. Surgeons install screws and spinal rods during some forms of spinal surgery to achieve the desired anatomical configuration of a patient's spine. The procedure may include installing pedicle screws, or other forms of vertebral anchoring devices, including hooks for example, into the pedicle of the patient's spinal vertebra. These anchoring devices act as firm anchor points to manipulate and stabilize the spine. The surgeon may also install spinal rods and couple them to the anchoring devices, providing a construct to hold the spine in the desired position. The spinal rods are generally positioned parallel to the spine and coupled to anchoring devices installed on adjacent vertebrae. After coupling the spinal rod to an anchoring device, surgeons generally hold the construct in place with a set screw or fastener. The construct may restrict movement to allow vertebral fusion. The construct may also be used to change the alignment of the spine. By fusing and/or aligning the spinal vertebrae, surgeons can reduce back pain and promote healing in the patient.
Surgeons often encounter difficulty in persuading a spinal rod toward an installed anchoring device in order to couple the spinal rod to the anchoring device. Disadvantages associated with prior art reduction methods and devices include pulling on the anchoring device along its longitudinal axis and risking destabilization of the construct; the inability to manipulate the spinal vertebrae in more than one direction; and incompatibility with multiple types of anchoring devices. Thus, methods, systems, and devices to efficiently and reliably reduce a spinal rod to an anchoring device are desired and remain a significant challenge in some forms of spinal surgery.